Charles Barkley and Kevin Durant are far from strangers, as the two have had some issues over the years regarding criticism Barkley has levied against Durant and the Warriors in his job as an analyst for Inside the NBA.
Most recently, Durant didn’t appreciate Barkley’s statements regarding the “annoying” Draymond Green and, during a postgame show during the NBA Finals, directed him downstairs to speak with Green if he had a problem with him. Barkley and Green eventually did come face-to-face on a later postgame show and seemed to hash things out a bit after their feud escalated over the course of the series.
Barkley has never been shy in sharing his opinions, and so it comes as little surprise that his disapproval of Durant joining the Warriors would irk the now two-time Finals MVP. Durant is notorious for responding to criticism, particularly on social media, and Barkley is among those that thinks he should walk away from it rather than respond.
As Barkley told Sports Illustrated‘s Ben Golliver recently, Durant’s issue comes from him wanting to be a hero at heart, but trying to embrace the role of being a villain in Golden State and struggling to do so.
“Kevin Durant is just a really nice guy trying to be a bad guy,” Barkley said. “You can’t do that. It doesn’t work. He spends all his time trying to prove to people how tough and bad he is. He’s so worried about what other people say. Kevin Durant is a great player and a great kid. I was one of those guys who criticized him for going to Golden State, but he doesn’t have to respond every time someone says something about it.”
This is not a unique point from Barkley about Durant — I’ve brought this up at times on the Dime Podcast — and there is likely some merit to it. Durant was a beloved figure in Oklahoma City and suddenly found himself hated by much of the league’s fans when he chose to go to the Warriors, and he can’t understand why, which leads him to respond to critiques on social media and elsewhere. He feels his decision to go to Golden State was rooted in all the right reasons, and for fans obsessed with rings he can’t understand why his efforts to win titles has been widely panned, which is a valid point.
Durant has also explained his reasoning for being on social media and actively responding to random Instagram accounts that post negative things about him, but even so, the point from Barkley stands. Durant’s not the first to go through this, as LeBron James had a similar issue with trying to be the villain in his first season in Miami after The Decision. James’ effort at a heel turn was fairly disastrous, and it’s probably for the best for LeBron that social media wasn’t nearly what it is now back in 2010 or he might’ve been the one defending himself regularly and using burner accounts.
Undoubtedly, Durant will not be pleased by Barkley chiming in on things once again and it’s possible we’ll get a response to this as well once he’s prompted about it.
